Delahunty and Garvey
in the rashness of making statements that purport to describe the actual
future” (McCawley 1981: 342-4). So, there are lots of possible futures,
which is why it makes a great deal of sense for a language to use its modal
system as its main grammatical way of denoting futurity. In this section we
describe the various grammatical forms used to denote future in English
and the particular kinds of futures each denotes.
Will
Forms
The form often called the “simple future” is created by using the modal verb
will followed by an uninflected verb form: Jake will bring it. Sometimes,
especially in formal contexts and in British English, shall may be used in-
stead of will when the subject of the sentence is first person (I or we): I shall
return, We shall overcome.
Meanings
The will future simply indicates that a situation will obtain in the future
relative to the time of utterance. When the situation begins and how long
it lasts are irrelevant to the will future. It is compatible with situations that
began in the past, held through the present, and will continue indefinitely
into the future: Deborah still loves Raymond and will love him forever. In
this example, still indicates that the state of affairs, Deborah loves Raymond,
held in the past and has held up to “now.” Forever obviously indicates that
the situation will continue indefinitely.
The will future is also consistent with situations that begin and end
within a very short time in the future: The clock will chime once at exactly
midnight tonight. When a state of affairs begins and ends can be indicated
by various temporal adverbials.
How long a state of affairs lasts may also be indicated by the nature of the
main verb, specifically by whether or not it is punctual, as well as by various
adverbials: The balloon will pop presently, Timothy will remain in prison for
the rest of his life. Pop denotes an event that takes no more than a moment of
time; remain denotes a state that occupies an indefinite period of time.
The will future is compatible also with events that occur at specific times
in the future: I’ll give you your money at noon tomorrow. It is also compatible
with vague times: The Earth will certainly be hit by a large meteor, but we have
no way of knowing just when that will happen.
Like the present and the past, the future interacts with the type of main
verb involved. With state verbs, the will future indicates an unchanging